1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a facsimile device in which both a manuscript and copied sheet are discharged in a direction outside of the front surface at the operating portion of the facsimile device, in particular, a facsimile device in which a sheet tray assembly unitarily comprising a manuscript tray for receiving manuscript and a copied sheet tray for receiving copied sheet are attached to the main part of the facsimile device, and the same is constructed such that even a curled sheet can be smoothly stacked in the sheet tray assembly.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, in a facsimile device in which manuscript and copied sheet are discharged in a direction outside of the front surface at the operating portion of the facsimile device, the main part of the facsimile device is put, for instance, on a table, and a horizontal tray is equipped at the sheet discharging side thereof, or a basket-shaped falling-down tray is equipped at the same.
In the case of the former, if a stocked previous-page copied sheet gets into a habit of curling and thereby turns out to be rolled, the tip end of next subsequent-page copied sheet gets hooked at the previous-page copied sheet, and therefore the same pushes out some of the stacked copied sheets as it exits from the upper part of the tray. Consequently, the copied sheets cannot be stocked (stacked) normally. And further, in the case of the latter, since the basket-shaped falling-down tray has no means for reforming the curled copied sheet, the same enters the tray as it is and turns out to be rolled at the same time. Consequently, stack of the rolled sheets becomes bulky (voluminous), so that many of copied sheets cannot be stocked in a limited space. And further, in the case of stocking both of copied sheet and manuscript in the same tray, the number of stocked sheets is restricted. In addition, the works of classifying copied sheets and manuscripts may get troublesome.
Next, sheet discharging mechanisms of the facsimile device are described in detail. A manuscript putting table is provided at the rear end of an operating portion. Furthermore, a manuscript discharging outlet is provided at the side of the operating portion and a copied sheet discharging outlet is further provided at the lower stage thereof. Moreover, a manuscript's width setting guide means is disposed on the manuscript putting stand.
In the facsimile device having such sheet discharging outlets, when a horizontal tray is installed thereto so as to fit the length (width) of manuscript or copied sheet (for instance, A-size, B-size, etc.), the same protrudes in the forward direction at the front surface side of the operating portion so that the operability of such facsimile device turns out to be worse. Furthermore, also in the case of employing a commonly-used tray for manuscript and copied sheet, since the tray fitted to the length (width) of the sheet is the employed the situation is same in diminished operability. In addition, manuscript and copied sheet mixedly exist and therefore it takes a long time for selecting and putting those mixed sheets in order. As mentioned heretofore, the conventional facsimile device has such defects to be solved.
And further, the operational function of the facsimile device is explained in brief hereinafter. When the manuscript to be transmitted is set on the manuscript putting table, the set position thereof in its width direction is limited by means of the manuscript's width setting guide. The manuscript set by operating the operating portion of the facsimile device is separated from the device on a separating section and transported therefrom by use of a pair of manuscript transporting rollers. The same is read out by the reading-out portion of an optical system constructed with light source, mirror, etc., and an electric signal thus generated is transmitted therefrom. And further, the manuscript read out is transported by use of another pair of manuscript transporting rollers and discharged from the front surface of the facsimile device through the manuscript discharging outlet.
Furthermore, in the case of receive-printing, the recording portion is constructed in such a manner as that the recording medium such as roll paper is printed by the recording portion comprising a thermal head and a platen roller, and the printed recording medium is cut off by a cutter unit and further discharged by use of a discharging roller from the front surface of the facsimile device through the copied sheet discharging outlet.
As mentioned above, in a facsimile device having sheet discharging outlets for respectively discharging manuscript and copied sheet provided at the front surface side of the operating portion, a horizontal tray is attached thereto and therefore the same protrudes at the front surface side of the device so that its operability is remarkably worsened. In such a situation, the device is required to be improved.
Furthermore, in the case of cutting off the rolled paper by the cutter unit and discharging it outside of the device through the copied sheet discharging outlet, the rolled paper tends to be curled in itself. In the conventional device, there remains a problem to be solved that the paper gets rolled up if its tendency of being curled is not removed, namely, the paper lacks firmness so that the copied sheet (paper) cannot be smoothly stacked in the tray normally.